Texas' "Merry Christmas Bill," which is intended to defend free speech on the issue of "traditional holidays," reached Governor Rick Perry's desk on Wednesday, and he is expected to sign it despite critics saying that the bill violates the separation between church and state.

The bill would permit officials like teachers in public schools to say "Merry Christmas" and put up religious symbols, so long as they do not constitute a state preference for one particular religion.

Russell Glasser, co-host of the Austin public-access TV show "The Atheist Experience," in an interview with www.rawstory.com, contends the bill is an offensive tactic by Christians. "They use this as an excuse all the time to pass laws that basically codify Christianity and make sure that everybody hears about it as often as possible," he said. more >>

Harvard Professor Harvey Mansfield joined Monday the criticism started by a National Association of Scholars (NAS) report on liberal indoctrination occuring at Bowdoin College, a liberal arts school in Brunswick, Maine, by condemning the lax standards of liberal education.

"Earlier in my life," he wrote, "liberals took pride in the high standards they set for the colleges that had recently come to dominate and had made the headquarters of their liberalism."

"Now, they have made an unholy sacrifice of the devotion to excellence they once prized as a mark of distinction over fuddy-duddy, tradition-bound conservatism, and it is conservatives who stand for high standards in education." more >>

The documentary film "Hating Breitbart," that takes a look at the late online media mogul Andrew Breitbart, opened in limited release this weekend in its less-cursing, PG-13 format after its producers decided to intentionally target Christian moviegoers as well, says the movie's director.

"We wanted to capture Andrew as he was: loud and passionate when he saw liberal hypocrisy in the mainstream media. But we also wanted to make sure that all Americans can see what a fascinating man he was so we decided to create a PG-13 version. Andrew had tremendous respect for the Christian community and its leadership and I know he would have wanted them to be able to enjoy this movie as well," said Director Andrew Marcus in an exclusive statement to The Christian Post.

Recent screenings leading up to this weekend's release of "Hating Breitbart" have included stops at Christian colleges such as Wheaton College and Biola University. Additionally, the film was shown at the Colorado-based Focus on The Family as well as a screening for journalists from The Christian Post and World Magazine. Singer Pat Boone, one of Hollywood's most prominent Christian leaders, was also given a special screening. more >>

A top Saudi Arabia official has suggested that using Twitter, which reportedly is growing in popularity in the western Asian country, is leading people to "lose their afterlife."

BBC News reported that Sheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, head of Saudi Arabia's religious police, warned that anyone using Twitter and other social media sites "has lost this world and his afterlife."

Saudi Arabia, a Muslim-dominated country, has been designated by persecution watchdog Open Doors USA as one of the most oppressive countries in the world where personal and religious freedoms are limited. BBC noted that platforms like Twitter have provided citizens with a mode of expression that was previously unavailable, and the conservative kingdom has seen a very fast increase of social media users in recent years. more >>

After the firestorm that erupted over ESPN sports analyst Chris Broussard's bold declaration that NBA player Jason Collins' homosexuality isn't consistent with biblical scripture, ESPN president John Skipper has dismissed the comments as "one mistake."

In a discussion with reporters in New York this week, Skipper shared his thoughts on how ESPN handled Collins' announcement that he is homosexual.

"I think we did great other than we made one mistake," said Skipper. "The mistake was not being more careful with Chris Broussard, and there is a collective responsibility there. Chris Broussard's job was to come on and talk about the news of the league, how the league was representing it, and through a series of events he made personal comments which was a mistake." more >>

Debate over prayer in school made headlines again, this time in the Riverside School District in Lake City, Ark. Its school board voted on Monday to cancel its sixth grade ceremony rather than to allow prayer to be a part of the ceremony.

Controversy over whether or not prayer would be allowed resulted from an April 15 letter from the Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, on behalf of an anonymous "concerned parent." The Foundation's mission is to "promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism."

The Foundation wrote, "As you may be aware, the Supreme Court has continually struck down prayers at school-sponsored events, including public school graduations. A prayer taking place at a 'regularly scheduled school-sponsored function conducted on school property' would lead an objective observer to perceive it as state endorsement of religion ... We request Written assurances that Riverside Public Schools is taking the appropriate steps to ensure that religious rituals are not part of graduation ceremonies or any other school-sponsored events." more >>